The "Mass of St. John"

Here’s a little something to help you when you are not able to go to church and receive the Sacraments. It is a short way of uniting with the Masses being offered around the world and of making a spiritual Communion. Listen to Father Mateo’s explanation from his book, Jesus, King of Love:

"Now, I am going to let you in on a secret — the secret of my spiritual life. When I travel on the train, I say, ten, twenty “Masses of St. John” — Masses in honor of the Blessed Trinity. There is no prayer like that. I have but three devotions: My Mass, my Breviary, my Rosary. The Breviary is beautiful, but you cannot compare it with the Mass. There is no prayer like the Mass.

"As I travel, I offer my Mass on the altar of the holy Will of God, offering it in union with the thousands of priests saying Mass continuously, perpetually. I am tired, I cannot prepare conferences — I offer Mass instead. I said four or five Masses this morning. I do it the whole day. It unites my heart, my will with priests at the altar.

"When I awake during the night, the first thing I do is to take the shortest form of the Mass of St. John, ‘Suscipe… Offerimus…’ ‘Hoc est enim Corpus Meum’ … (The offering of the Host, the Chalice, the Consecration, Domine non sum dignus, the Communion prayers of the priest.)

"Learn these prayers by heart and then during the day you can live the wonderful grace of your Mass. You have a few moments free — say a Mass of St. John. You wake up at night — say a Mass…

"I remember preaching in a big community in California. The Mother Superior said to me one day, 'Father, I want to thank you. Yesterday after your conference about Holy Mass I went to the infirmary to see a poor Sister who suffers terribly and who cannot sleep at all, especially during the night. She was smiling. Mother, I have learned the secret of how to pass the night — the Mass of St. John. Thank Father for me for having told us about it.'”